Re: Working with SMEs

[Rowena Hart <rhart -at- INTRINSYC -dot- COM>]

Hi all,

Just to clarify -- in my current role as editor of some internal and
external documentation, it's my job to make sure that all of our
documents use fresh, clear and concise technical language.  My
recent posts regarding overused words and phrases should not
be considered "complaining" or "egotistic", because:

As an editor, it's my job to question word usage.  "Is this really the
best way to explain the technology, the process, and the actors?"
is a question that I must ask when I work with every document.

At our company, documents are cut up and re-used constantly.
There are usually more than three authors for every document.
When it reaches my desk, it's usually full of redundancies, passive
language and run-on sentences.  I also have to deal with pub-
lication size -- if I only have two pages to describe a product,
I'm going to make sure that every word is a workhorse, and I don't
want to use any ambiguous terms.

When I send edited documents to managers and SMEs, I usually
sit down and explain the changes I made.  I describe rules of
grammar, formatting decisions, style choices, and my word choices
(based on audience and function).  In about 98 per cent of cases,
people agree with me.  In the 2 per cent where there is resistance,
we work toward concensus.  Sometimes I bend, sometimes they
do.

I hope this clears up any confusion about why I'm asking the
questions that I'm asking to the list.

Cheers,

Rowena

---------------------
Rowena Hart
Technical Writer
Intrinsyc Software, Inc.
Vancouver, B.C. Canada
http://www.intrinsyc.com

Betsy wrote:

I've seen two emails today that I'd like to address (*A very detailed
glossary* and *A replacement for "implementation"*). I think these writers
may way to re-assess how they work with their SMEs.

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